It’s been said that it’s a dangerous proposition to be standing between a politician and an open microphone. Peggy Noonan lays out a compelling case today that it’s an extremely dangerous proposition to be a politician caught between her and a word processor. Today she laid into the Gang of 14, not for the substance of their stand but for the considerable size of their sense of self importance.
From her piece (“Mr. Narcissus Goes to Washington):
Listening to them I thought of some of the great and hallowed phrases of our Republic. “The rooster who thought he brought the dawn.” “The only man who can strut sitting down.”
I know they’re centrists, but there is nothing moderate about their self-regard. And why should there be? I personally was dazzled by their refusal to bow to the counsels of common sense and proportion, and stirred that they had no fear of justified insult (“blowhard,” “puffed up popinjay”) as they moved forward in the halls of the United States Senate to bravely proclaim their excellence.
Ouch. Read the whole thing – there’s more where that came from.
